Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce’s contract extension could be looked back on as an important piece of franchise history.
After the next six seasons, with Patrick Mahomes as his quarterback, Kelce could be among rare company in the Kansas City history books. He already ranks highly among franchise greats in multiple receiving categories.
Kelce’s 6,465 career receiving yards has him ranked just behind WR Henry Marshall for fifth all-time in franchise history. With 507 career receptions, Kelce is third all-time behind WR Dwayne Bowe. He’ll likely pass Bowe to take second all-time within the first three weeks of the 2020 NFL season. In terms of touchdowns, Kelce is sixth all-time with 37, also lagging just behind Bowe.
So where will Kelce rank in these three categories by the time his contract is up? He has a chance to hold the top spot or just below the top spot in each of these categories by 2026 when he next becomes an unrestricted free agent at 35 years old.
Let’s start with receiving yards. Kelce, in his six healthy seasons, has averaged 1,055.7 receiving yards per season. If he stays the course with his average receiving yards, he’ll have well over 12,000 yards by 2026, passing TE Tony Gonzalez at 10,940 to become the all-time receiving yards leader in Kansas City.
In terms of receptions, Kelce has averaged 84 receptions per year thus far in Kansas City. If he continues to rack up catches at the same rate over the next six years, he’ll have 1,011 receptions. That’d put him No. 1 in franchise history, passing Gonzalez (916) as well.
As for touchdowns, Kelce will have to beat his career average of six per season if he wants to pass Gonzalez. Right now, he’s pacing to come in at 73 touchdowns by the end of the 2025 season. That’s three less than Gonzalez, who also owns the top spot.
There is some evidence to suggest his pace will increase in all three of these categories moving forward. Kelce put up career two-year highs in receptions, yards and touchdowns in the past two years. What’s been different about the past two years? Just some guy named Mahomes throwing him the football.
The decision to extend Kelce won’t just give the Chiefs a chance to retain one of their best players right now. It’ll give Kelce a chance to become the greatest receiver to ever play for the team thus far.
